Chapter Text
It had all started during the summer after graduation—two teenagers playing at being in love, playing at getting to know each other all over again. Two best friends stepping into a new role where neither of them knew how to do things the right way, but they knew they wanted what they had.
Mike and Will used to sneak away together to places where no one could find them, places that no one but them could recognize. The quarry had been theirs. Will had lost count of how many times he had counted the freckles on Mike’s face, finding a new one every time and memorizing each of them. And the way Mike looked at him while he did it. The way the sunlight hit their faces and made their bond shine.
The movie theater practically screamed their names from every corner. They used to go late at night, when hardly anyone was there anymore, when couples went to pass the time or make out, when most of the seats were empty and the room was dark enough that no one could be bothered to notice them holding hands.
The library wasn’t Will’s favorite place, but they spent a lot of time there together, where Mike could develop his stories and Will could bring them to life with his sketches.
They seemed like the perfect couple, even if nobody knew about them. Their friends congratulated them for finally making it more than four months without arguments, shouting, or tears.
You could say that maybe there had been too many expectations placed on them, because by the end of that summer, everything exploded.
Will’s acceptance letter arrived from a university he had applied to before starting his relationship with Mike—a university that had been his dream his entire life. To Mike, that meant Will was abandoning him.
But that wasn’t the reason their relationship ended.
Ted Wheeler had found Will and Mike together in a rather compromising situation, one that involved a lot of yelling.
“You’re never going to see that faggot again!” his father had shouted after throwing Will out of the house.
Mike tried to find Will the next day, but Jonathan told him he had already left.
They had finally graduated from their respective universities. Mike had returned to Hawkins before Will, renting a small one-bedroom apartment and a tiny office where he could write. He had chosen to work at the local newspaper, but there still weren’t any openings for staff writers.
Mike felt like a failure. He had graduated with a degree in journalism and still couldn’t work in his field. That was when he decided to take a job at the coffee shop, praying it would only be temporary.
It wasn’t until he saw his ex-boyfriend walk through the door, holding a “Help Wanted” flyer in his hand, that Mike realized his life was about to be turned upside down once again.